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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R. W. PITTMAN. ENVELOPE AND CARD COUNTING DEVICE.

Patented Mar. 25, 1890.

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(No Model.) 2 Sh'eets-Sheet 2. R. W. PITTMAN.

ENVELOPE AND CARD COUNTING DEVICE.

"N0. 4Z4,12'7. Patented Mar. 25, 1890.

. I Witnesses,

\mlen ior.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

REINHARD TV. PITTMAN, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE PLIMPTONMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ENVELOPE AND CARD COUNTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 424,127, dated March25, 1890.

Application filed August 23, 1889. Serial No. 321,780. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, REINHARD W. PITT- MAN, of Hartford, in the county ofHartford, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Envelope and Card Counting Machines; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming [o apart of this specification, and to the figures and letters of referencemarked thereon.

My invention relates to that class of envelope and card countingmechanisms in which a carrier moves the cards or envelopes I 5 insuccession along the receiving-box, the object of the invention being toprovide a mechanism which will separate the envelopes into packs,leaving each pack even at the ends and edges in shape to be bound orotherwise disposed of, such mechanism being operated by the articlesbeing counted, whereby when the carrier is moved without a card orenvelope the counter will not be operated.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction andcombinations and arrangements of parts, as hereinafter described, andpointed out particularly in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is 0 a side elevation of thecounter with the carrier in section. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of thesame. Figs. 3 and 4 are side and end elevations, respectively, of theshifting-arm. Figs. 5 and 6 are side and bottom views, re-

3 5 spectively, of the main frame. Figs. 7 and 8 are end and sideelevations of the shiftingcam. Figs. 9 and 10 are top and side views,respectively, of the shifting-blade.

Similar letters and figures of reference in the several figures indicatethe same parts.

AA indicate the receiving-box of an envelope-machine, to the side A ofwhich is se cured the frame 3, having an upwardly-extending arm 3 and alaterally-exten ding arm 3' with bearings in the ends of each, for apurpose to be presently described.

The carrier B, for moving the envelopes along the box, is reciprocatedby any wellknown or preferred means, and is adapted to carry or push anenvelope or card dropped into the position indicated in full lines, Fig.

. tate acertain definite portion of a revolution.

The wheel 8 is mounted rigidly on a shaft 10, extending through itsbearing in arm 3 and having on the opposite end a pinion I 2, meshingwith the gear-wheel 1, the latter being mounted on a shaft 9, journaledin frame 3, and carrying at its opposite end the shifting-cam 7, adjustablysecured thereon by means of the washer 12 and screw 11. This cam7 is provided in the preferred construction and for the purposes hereincontemplated with two parallel faces, one somewhat higher than the otherand extending throughout substantially one-half of its facecircumference. The shifting-arm 6 is mounted on a vertical shaft 6,journaled'in bearings in the bifurcated ends of arm. 3", and restsagainst the face of the cam, the shifting-blade 4 5 being adjustablyconnected to said shaft between the bearings by means of the set-screw13.

The end 5 of the shifting-blades, it will be seen, is at an angle to thebase portion, and thus when it has been moved inward by the cam and armit will standat an incline with relation to the side A of thereceiving-box, forming a deflecting-surface in the path traversed by theenvelopes, whereby they are shifted laterally as they are moved forwardby the carrier. Thus it is obvious that as the shifting-blade is swungby the articles being moved by the carrier through the medium of theoperating-wheel S, gear-wheels, cam, and connections, as described, itmay be caused to shift at any desired and pre determined time bychanging the proportionate number of teeth in the gears, or the positionof the cam and blade, to shift a certain definite number of cards orenvelopes outward a certain distance, while the remain- I00 ing numberareformed in line by the side.

In the construction shown, which is de signed to arrange and count theenvelopes or cards in to packs of twenty-five each, the wheel 8 isprovided with five arms, each curved, so that the end thereof only comesin contact with the card or envelope, so as to offer the least possibleresistance to the lateral movement of the cards or envelopes, and theymay also be provided with anti-friction devices, and the pinion 2 andgear 1 have such a number of teeth, respectively, as will cause them torotate in the proportion of ten of the pinion to one of the gear. Thustwenty-five envelopes or cards will rotate the gear one-half of arevolution, bringing the cam 7 around and shifting the blade 5 out orin, as the case may be, (see Fig. 2,) when the next twenty-liveenvelopes will be pushed forward by the carrier in a different line, aswill be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

The adjustability of the cam '7 and blade permits the time when theshifting operation takes place to be changed or adjusted to a nicety,and by increasing the number of faces on the cam or the relative speedat which the gears rotate packs may be counted out or separatedcontaining any desired number, and when no cards or envelopes arepresent on the carrier the arms of wheel 8 pass through the slot or cutportion B without operating the counter at all, thus insuring theplacing of the proper number in each pack even though the feed beintermittentor irregular.

The whole mechanism, it will be seen,is simple and effective and may beapplied to machines now in use without altering the same in any materialrespect, and by properly gaging the width of the notch B cards orenvelopes of most any thickness may be counted, as they are firmlysupported 011 each side of the point where the pressure is brought tobear.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is- 1. In anenvelope or card counting machine, the combination, with the carrier, ofa wheel having arms projecting in the path of the envelopes or cardstherein, and a movable blade, and connections, substantially asdescribed, between the wheel and blade, whereby the blade is controlledby said wheel to guide the envelopes in different lines, substantiallyas described.

2. In an envelope or card counting machine, the combination, with thecarrier and wheel having arms projecting in the path traversed by theenvelopes or cards on the carrier, of the blade for guiding the same indifferent lines and the cam for operating said blade in gear with thewheel, substantially as described.

3. In an envelope-counting machine, the combination, with thereciprocating carrier and operating-wheel having arms projecting in thepath of the envelopes or cards on the carrier, of the shifting-blade forguiding the envelopes in different lines, the shifting-arm, itsoperating-cam, and gearing connecting said cam and operating-wheel,substantially as described.

4. In an envelope or card counting machine, the combination, with thereciprocating carrier and operating-wheel having arms pro- 3' eetin g inthe path of the envelope or card on the carrier, of the shifting-bladefor guiding the envelopes in different lines, the shiftingarm,the camhaving the parallel faces, the gear-wheel connected to said cam, and thepinion on the operatin g-wheel shaft gearing therewith, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a card-counter, the combination, with the frame 3, having bearingstherein, of the shifting-blade journaled in said frame, the gear-wheeland cam, and the operating-wheel, also journaled in said frame andhaving the arms projecting in the path of the envelopes on the carrier,substantially as described.

(3. In a card or envelope counter, the combination, with mechanism forshifting the cards or envelopes laterally, of a countingwheel havingprojecting arms curved so that the ends thereof only come in contactwith the cards or envelopes to permit of the free lateral movement ofthe same, substantially as described.

REINI-IARD W. PIlTMAN.

Witnesses:

L. B. PLIMPTON, MELVILLE CHURCH.

